|
|
By Candice
Friday,
Feb 27, 2009 at 3:49pm
Angela Blemker teaches an enthusiastic bunch of kindergarteners in Seattle. Most of these students qualify for free and reduced price lunch, and the majority did not attend preschool prior to Ms. Blemker’s class. As a result, the students entered kindergarten behind their peers in learning to read. Thanks to Ms. Blemker and DonorsChoose.org, these students are now well on their way to getting up to speed with their reading skills!
As reported on Seattle Q13, the teacher wanted to make sure that reading is accessible and fun for her students so that they will be confident and inspired to continue to grow and learn in future years. So she submitted a project on DonorsChoose.org, requesting a listening center, phonics games and puzzles to help her students improve their literacy. Maria Arcega-Dunn of Fox News captured the students’ eagerness to learn and you can check out the video here. Thanks to Ms. Blemker and thousands of teachers like you for bringing learning to life for your students!
If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to receive new posts via email or RSS!
By Katie
Thursday,
Feb 26, 2009 at 4:04pm
Friends of DonorsChoose.org,
Ty’Sheoma Bethea, the eighth grade student who wrote a letter to Congress about her school’s tragic conditions, and then was a guest at President Obama’s speech to Congress on Tuesday night, has inspired teachers at her school to request supplies for their classrooms through DonorsChoose.org.
Click here to directly support teachers’ projects at Ty’Shoema’s school, JV Martin Jr. High School, in Dillon SC. As you can see from Ty’Sheoma’s letter, the need is great.
Thanks for your support,
Katie & Alex
DonorsChoose.org Carolinas
PS. You can also support other high-poverty South Carolina classrooms here.
If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to receive new posts via email or RSS!
By Katie
Wednesday,
Feb 25, 2009 at 5:44pm
If you were watching President Obama’s address to Congress last night, Ty’Sheoma Bethea probably stole your heart, like she stole ours. The eight-grader from Dillon, South Carolina was in attendance because of the letter she wrote to Congress, about her school’s terrible condition.
Ty’Sheoma wrote, “As you know, we have a lot of promblems with our school. President Obama has visit our school and were able to see why we should need a new school. Some of the promblems are, we can not afford anything so we can not go on school trips or do school activities unlike other schools…”
She concluded her letter with, “We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congress men like yourself and one day president….” To make a difference in high-poverty South Carolina classrooms like Ty’Sheoma’s, you can start here.
All the best,
Katie & Alex
DonorsChoose.org Carolinas
If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to receive new posts via email or RSS!
By Julie
Monday,
Feb 23, 2009 at 4:25pm
You can help teachers get resources for their classrooms using your facebook and myspace pages with SocialVibe. SocialVibe allows you to get sponsored by your favorite brands on your social profiles while earning points for the charity of your choice.
DonorsChoose.org has over 8,600 supporters making a huge difference on SocialVibe right now. Last quarter, the SocialVibe community earned enough points to get microscopes into the hands of 136 students in Vermont, New Jersey, and Chicago. (Huge kudos to everyone that earned points for DonorsChoose.org – your thank you notes are on their way!)
This quarter the community is earning points for books – with one month left we’re 33% to our goal! Want to be part of the fun? Sign up for an account today (and tell your friends!) and begin earning points for DonorsChoose.org: http://www.socialvibe.com/?r=527906!
If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to receive new posts via email or RSS!
By Alex
Thursday,
Feb 19, 2009 at 2:23pm
There’s never a wrong time to grow a mustache. That goes without saying.
For Ariba, a much appreciated DonorsChoose.org partner, February is proving to be THE month to grow a ’stache and raise some cash for classrooms in need. The men and mustaches of Ariba are quickly ascending the ranks of those companies that grew sweet ’staches in November as part of the Mustaches for Kids Challenge. In a less than three weeks, they’ve raised over $6,500 and reached over 1,800 students in need.
The Ariba gang has already clinched the #4 spot on the Mustache Leaderboard. If they want to medal in mustaches and make it into the TOP THREE, they’ll have to unseat our very own DonorsChoose.org Growers. To help them do it, check out the Ariba page (be sure to check out their individual pages – awesome pictures!) and support one of the classroom projects they’ve chosen.
Special thanks to Melvin and his magnificent mustache for leading the Ariba charge (HINT: Support one of the rural West Virginia classrooms he picked)!
Aribastache!
If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to receive new posts via email or RSS!
By Kirk
Wednesday,
Feb 18, 2009 at 5:03pm
Finish Line, Inc., the second largest athletic retailer in the US, made the great decision to pass along the DonorsChoose.org “gift of giving” during the recent holiday season. Finish Line sent 1,000 DonorsChoose.org GivingCards to its corporate partners and vendors as a token of holiday cheer, and the GivingCards garnered a tremendous response. From Nike to Vans, shoe companies and other suppliers were able to experience DonorsChoose.org firsthand, help a needy classroom, and pass their thanks along to the staff at Finish Line!
Over 39% of the GivingCard recipients placed a donation, and in total, over 9,000 students across the country benefited from Finish Line’s support. What an amazing effect Finish Line and its partners had on public education using DonorsChoose.org GivingCards!
If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to receive new posts via email or RSS!
By Katie
Tuesday,
Feb 17, 2009 at 12:56pm
In the last two weeks, Virginia Tech students have been growing Mustaches, while raising pledges for local classrooms through DonorsChoose.org. In an impressive showing, they have already inspired 43 donors to donate over $1,000 to classrooms in need. To support Virginia Tech in its Mustache journey, you can visit the Growers’ Giving Pages at DonorsChoose.org. You can also visit their hilarious Mustaches for Kids website. GO HOKIES!
If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to receive new posts via email or RSS!
By Katie
Tuesday,
at 12:54pm
A recent New York Times article, “As Pipeline to Wall Street Narrows, Princeton Students Adjust Sights,” features our own Daphra Holder. Daphra graduated from Princeton in 2007, and made a career move from Wall Street to DonorsChoose.org last spring.
Daphra is quoted in the article saying, “Without Wall Street as the default position, I think people will be forced to think outside the box in their career choices, which is a good thing. Hopefully, there will be a flood of talent to nonprofits and technology companies and places other than Wall Street. I just know I’m a lot happier. I wake up every morning excited to get to work.”
Daphra is the Manager of Mobilization Marketing at DonorsChoose.org. She manages the Blogger Challenge, Mustaches for Kids, Donate Your Birthday and a slew of other new media special projects. In her spare time, Daphra mentors for iMentor, an innovative technology-based youth mentoring program catering to inner city public school youth.
If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to receive new posts via email or RSS!
By Melanie
Friday,
Feb 13, 2009 at 11:35am
Thanks to a $4 million dollar grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, DonorsChoose.org offers high-school teachers at high-need (40% or more students eligible for free/reduced lunch) or rural schools half-funding for all projects to prepare their students for college and/or college level work!
What’s Available and Who Qualifies
- Gates Foundation has given us a grant to match funding to your next classroom project request(s) to prepare students for college or college level work. So far, 93% of projects that qualified for this Gates match offer were fully funded by donors who visited our site!
- If you are a full-time teacher at a high-need or rural public high school, you are eligible for this funding.
How Do I Get Started?
- First, log in to your teacher account on DonorsChoose.org (if you don’t have one, any public school teacher can sign up at www.donorschoose.org/teacher).
- Once you’re logged in, submit one or more projects requesting materials to help prepare your students for college or college level work.
- A few hours after your project is approved, you should see a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation logo on your project. This means it has qualified for this offer and now has a great chance of being fully funded by the other donors that visit our site.
To see projects recently funded via this offer, click here.
To get started with submitting your own college prep project, log in to your account at www.donorschoose.org/teacher.
[Updated 09/10/09]
If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to receive new posts via email or RSS!
By Keecia
Monday,
Feb 9, 2009 at 4:30pm
How did you celebrate your last birthday? Maxine Clark, Founder and CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop is celebrating her 60th birthday this March by making a difference in the lives of students.
In lieu of gifts from her friends and colleagues, Maxine is raising $60,000 for her 60th birthday to help public school students in Greater St. Louis and Miami-Dade.
Check out Maxine’s Birthday Page to read about her decision to do this exciting challenge and to personally donate to a project for her big 6-0! Making a difference in the life of a child is a wonderful gift.
Please also read Maxine’s personal blog to find out why birthdays are her favorite holiday!
Maxine’s birthday is on March 6th, so there’s still plenty of time to make a donation!
If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to receive new posts via email or RSS!
|
|
